The Coast of Chile

We celebrated the bicentennial on the coastal town of Cachagua and Zappallar and made it to a very local"s only fair (reminded me of our summer excursions to the Wyalusing State Fair in PA). The traditional part of the celebrations is rodeo with very specific rules for herding calves. The Guasos (Chilean cowboys) ride with these beautiful colorful ponchos that are square shaped and there is much pride in wearing the.  The stirrups that put their boots into are made of carved wood and are very elaborate, the boots they wear crest over their knees and the spurs on the back of their boots are huge.

Aside from the rodeo there is arts and crafts, petty zoo and many food vendors. One of the very yummy thing to eat was called churripan, this is short for chorizo (sausage) in pan (bread), delicious!!!! At the fair the people were so interested in us. Again, this was a very small town. The vendors who served us approached us and talked to us and were surprised by the kind of positions we held in the US that we were so accessible to the public. They talked about the class separation in Chile and how the discussion at the community level is stifled. Also they were in love with Cherelle and her husband (one of the Fellows traveling with me), both of whom are African American.  Most of the people there had not seen an African American person and they believe it is good luck.  Everyone was so wonderful and greeted all of us.  Many told Cherelle and her husband that they made the celebration even more special since they were in their town.

We returned to Chile for a few meetings and headed out to Valparaiso on the central coast to see the National Congress and meet with a new State Representative as well as the Mayor of Valparaiso. It is a gorgeous coastal town.  There are miles of coastal towns and it is so lively. I had the most amazing seafood right from the water.

After our visit with a very right leaning state representative we had a nice encounter with the Mayor and then headed to the Open Community. To digress about the Right sided Representative meeting was nuts. The scary part is that he is very young and very handsome so an up an coming politician. He has serious view about the institution of marriage the role of women in the formative years of children etc.  I almost came out of my skin.  He was not apologetic but very clear and honest about his positions.  It was a very unique experience to engage a conservative about the role of women and women leaders.  It was not an argument but and discussion and clearly we were on opposing sides.

Okay back to Open Community.  Which by the way you can google as Open Community, Valparasion. This is a highly progressive, intentional community developed by artist and acrchitechs.  This place is so difficult to describe and needs to bee seen in person. We met with the couple who are among the founders. It is an enormous piece of land on the ocean, there are 12 homes, an out door amphitheatre, out door chapel, tons of sculptures and an extraordinary cemetery.  It has been operating for close to 40 years and the founders have lived there since the beginning.  No one member owns any private property, all decision and constructions are made by consensus. They created an architectural university. The designs for the houses are extraordinary. It is constantly toured now by people from all over the world. The founders Eugenia and Jose are extraordinary and Jose is a famous sculptor.

Unfortunately I can not upload my photos on this lap top, but I promise a great slide show when I return.